Background
Ethnicity:
father Emilio Formigoni (Italian), mother Doralice Baroni (Italian)
FORMIGONI, Dott. Roberto was born on March 30, 1947 in Lecco, Como, Italy.
Ethnicity:
father Emilio Formigoni (Italian), mother Doralice Baroni (Italian)
FORMIGONI, Dott. Roberto was born on March 30, 1947 in Lecco, Como, Italy.
Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Degree in Philosophy. Subsequent Degree in Political Economics.
Roberto Formigoni began very early his political career in Christian Democracy, through youth movements such as Gioventù Studentesca and Communion and Liberation (of which he became the unofficial political spokesman). In 1976 he founded the Popular Movement and was elected a deputy in both the European Parliament (with over 450 thousand votes) and Parliament of Italy. He was also the Vice-President of the European Parliament for five years and served as under-secretary for the Environment in the Italian government.
In 1990 he garnered attention when he was involved in a mission to Iraq which successfully concluded with the freeing of some Italian technicians who were hostages of the local government. He later took part in the Oil-for-food programme for Iraq, buying 1,000,000 oil barrels (160,000 m3). The move sparked controversy and linked him to alleged bribe scandals. In 1995, founded with Rocco Buttiglione the United Christian Democrats party. In 1998 he moved to Forza Italia, when Buttiglione briefly decided to support the government of Massimo D'Alema.
He was elected as President of Lombardy in 1995. Promoting a decidedly conservative platform on many issues, resulting in a political backlash from some liberal groups, President Formigoni was re-elected in 2000 carrying over 62% of the approximately 3.5 million votes, and in 2005.
He was elected again for a fourth term in March 2010. His candidature had been contested by academics and left-wing politicians, as in disregard of Law n. 165/2004, that put a limit of two subsequent mandates to directly-elected Region Presidents. Formigoni was indirectly elected in 1995, but then directly elected in 2000 and 2005. He defends himself stating that the law was not in action when he was first directly elected in 2000, so he should be allowed a 4th mandate. According to some scholars, his mandate may be overturned by judges later on.
Formigoni also sparked controversies when agreeing to put in his majority-premium list, granting her safe election, Nicole Minetti, former showgirl and actual dental hygienist of Silvio Berlusconi, who asked for a political seat for her.
On October 16, 2012, Formigoni announced the dissolution of the regional legislature after one of his commissioners, Domenico Zambetti of the People of Freedom was arrested on accusations he bought votes from the 'Ndrangheta in 2010 and to extort favours and public building contracts, including construction tenders for the World Expo 2015 in Milan. A technical administration run Lombardy until early elections in 2013. The same year he was elected to the Italian Senate.
After the split of the People of Freedom, Formigoni joined the New Centre-Right party.
The Christian Democrats
The party was born from the union of the two main parties of the center-right in Italy since the nineties: Forza Italy, due to the tendency of conservative liberalism, and the National Alliance, national-conservative type. They also merged inside several other smaller parties from different backgrounds and political color, who had previously participated in the House of Freedom: Christian Democracy for Autonomies, the New Italian Socialist Party, the liberal reformers, the Popular Liberals and Social Action.